Commentary
Tuition hikes to harm students
When is enough enough?
The answer is easy. When it comes
to cutting grant aid for Oregon's
neediest students and increasing tu
ition and fees by more than 15 per
cent on top of already rising tuition,
students
should jM jH MMMMM
stand up for iuL I
their right to COMMENTARY
higher edu- -
cation ac
cess. In response to the article ("UO
seeks to increase tuition, fees for
2003-04," ODE, July 8) on the State
Board of Higher Education modify
ing tuition plateaus so that fees that
students pay will increase when they
take more than a certain amount of
hours, students should be outraged
and ready to seek action before a de
cision is reached next Friday. Certain
ly, a tuition fee hike of this magni
tude will hit hard for many students,
especially those who don't already re
ceive state and federal aid. Not only
will it limit some students' access to
our University, but it will make our
University less affordable to many
low-income students.
There are many reasons why stu
dents should oppose such a plan by
the University and the State Board of
Higher Education. The first and most
important is that University students
were not informed of the changes
when they registered for classes for fall
term. Moreover, students were not no
tified that by registering for more than
13 credits, they would be paying $20
more for each credit. Under the pro
posed system, this means that students
who want to graduate in four years will
be charged an extra $60 per term for
taking 16 credits. Now, that amount
may not sound unreasonable, but on
top of the fee increases and raised tu
ition for the next year, it becomes a lot
for the unsuspecting student who was
not counting on paying more money
to the University. This means it will
take students longer to graduate to
avoid spending more per term.
Second, the University and the
State Board of Higher Education took
until the summer to release this plan,
and students who are attending the
University in the fall have already
made arrangements for federal and
state aid. Grants are awarded by full
time status and do not take into ac
count the extra costs per credit that
some students would be paying under
the proposed policy. The Oregon Op
portunity Grant has been diminished
because of funding cuts, and under
the proposed fee increases there
would not be additional money with
in the program to cover increased fees.
The University and the State
Board of Higher Education need to
understand the concerns of students,
who will be directly affected by the
proposed tuition increases. For that,
I urge you to write to the State Board
of Education. Administrators need a
reality check as to how they are af
fecting students, because many stu
dents will be affected by this pro
posed plan because they take classes
during peak hours and work
evenings to pay their tuition.
You can drop letters off in the
ASUO office (Suite 4, EMU), as well
as to find out more information
about this topic and other ways to get
involved. It is important that we have
many student letters so that you are
represented at the hearing next week.
Gabe V. Kjos, the ASUO legislative
associate, is a junior majoring
in planning, public policy
and management.
ONLINE POLL
Each week, the Emerald publishes
the previous week’s poll results and
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Visit www.dailyemerald.com to vote.
Last week: Should Oregon’s non
legal aliens graduating from high
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Results: 52 total votes
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